


Hell's Shadow

by GerardLeto



Category: 30 Seconds to Mars, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Angst, Death, Eventual Fluff, Fluff, Good Luck Charm, Hell, M/M, Magic, New Jersey, Shadows - Freeform, Supernatural Elements, The Other Side, Voodoo, black magic, dark themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 05:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8520772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GerardLeto/pseuds/GerardLeto
Summary: In between Heaven and Hell, there's Earth. Heaven tries to shine light on Earth but all that does is cast Hell's shadow.In other words, Gerard Way has a gift and he plans to use it in the most wicked way possible. Jared Leto just happens to get caught in the line of fire.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this is a little something new that I'm trying out, it'd mean a lot to me if you commented and told me what you think! I hope you enjoy.

The boy sat on the doorstep of his house, apathetic to the rain soaking into his clothes and chilling him to the bone. In fact, he wished it'd freeze him, and he'd sleep forever and be rid of the feelings inside him, tearing him apart like broken glass cutting him from the inside out. For a while he tried not to cry, but it took him over eventually. He had no idea how long he'd been sitting there for, nor how long he'd been crying. The cold has taken control of his hands, keeping them shaking as water dripped off the tips of his fingers, though the boy could barely feel it anymore. He didn't think it would help if he went inside, there were as many holes in the roof as there were holes in his shirt.

And besides, there was nobody living in there.

The boy moved only to wipe his eyes, though his wet hand just created more moisture on his eyelashes, which he had to blink a few times to clear his vision. All he could see were his pale hands on his soaked trousers, and his shadow by his feet.

His shadow was all he had now. His only companion, his only friend.

The boy rested his head on his knees, allowing himself to continue crying. His shoulders shook with his silent sobs, though it wasn't noticeable as his entire body shuddered. A slight rustle of leaves made the boy look up, his lips pressed together in a thin line as an attempt not to cry if there were any other people around. For a second, the boy thought he'd imagined the rustling until it happened again, and the bushes not far from him quivered.

"H-Hello?" The boy called out, his voice hoarse and quiet. There was no response. "Hello?" The boy tried again.

Something seemed to emerge from the bush, but it wasn't...solid. It was laying flat on the floor and the boy rubbed his eyes free of tears, sadness taken over by curiosity and fear. After staring at it for another moment, he realised it wasn't a thing, but merely a shadow. But there was nothing attached to the shadow.

Just when the boy was ready to run away, his own shadow jerked forward, and a strange sensation overtook the boy, his movements corresponding with his shadow's.

"W-What..." The boy muttered, frozen in fear until the shadow forced him to move, like a puppet on a string. It dragged him forward until the dark hand of the other shadow touched his own's shadow. The boy felt it on his own skin, like a warmth among the coldness he felt all over.

Something wasn't quite right about it but it was intoxicating, and the boy found himself longing for more of the feeling. His head was in no condition for managing rational thought, nor to even consider that what was going on was strange. He simply felt numb and the shadow made him feel less so, and gave him some kind of emotion. Not quite positive, but captivating enough for the boy to not consider it negative.

 _Like a sign from heaven_ , the boy thought, his teary eyes wide and fixed on the shadow. _Or Hell_.


	2. Bad Luck, Good Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jared's luck is about to change.

It was a cold that day in Spring, it had been raining the night before. People wore coats and scarves and the tips of their noses were red with the biting wind, all hurrying to their destinations, because nobody just went out for a walk anymore. Or at least, not where Gerard lived.  

Gerard spent his time on the streets, looking for targets, people who looked as though they could easily be conned. He was dressed in a suit, which by now was a little old and tattered but it still fit him and added to his charm. Charm was everything to him, it's how he lured in his targets. Just a dashing smile and perhaps conjuring up some flowers for them and Gerard had them right where he wanted them. He was waiting for the right person to come along, biding his time like a panther ready to strike. The shadow attached to him began to grow impatient but Gerard knew he had to have patience and choose his targets correctly; all of this had been meticulously planned, which he was a little proud of.  His shadows were as alive as he was, as a result of the dark magic he'd meddled with. They were dangerous, but Gerard was careful. He knew how to keep them happy.

He leaned against the wall in some dirty little alley, gazing out at the streets and all of a sudden, he spotted someone, some guy who looked like he'd be a good target. Gerard waited for the guy to get closer, his eyes fixed on that person, who looked sort of young, maybe in his teens. Naive and young was what Gerard looked for. His slight scowl immediately turned into a charming smile, ready to con the fuck out of his target.

Jared was having a shitty day, he was tired as fuck from moving all his stuff in to his ratty little apartment and earlier he tripped right into a puddle. Not to mention he was already running late to meeting his friend at some stupid ass cafe that he'd never heard of, nor knew where it was. He had the worst luck and he hated it.

"Um, excuse me?" Jared asked, approaching Gerard, looking a little lost. "I was wondering if you could give me directions to the nearest cafe? I'm supposed to be meeting someone there.."

"I don't think there's any cafes around here." Gerard lied right through his teeth. There was in fact a cafe nearby, not that he was going to tell this guy that. Keeping the kid in the dark would make it easier to con him. He shook his sleeve and all of a sudden, a bouquet of flowers appeared in his hand. Of course, he handed them over to Jared, flashing a charming smile.

"What's your name, sugar?" Gerard asked, trying to get a little friendly with this stranger. Whenever he was around others, he seemed to be in non stop flirting mode, it did help to con people though. But the way he spoke did end up throwing people off, Gerard had a strong Jersey accent and he obviously wasn't all too educated. He also was tall and thin, almost enough so to look like a skeleton which did also scare some people off, but overall, Gerard was pretty successful in stealing money off his targets. He had to be after all, this was how he earned his money. He had no other job and he had build up quite a reputation in what he did. Jared couldn't help but smile like a school boy when the other asked his name. There was just something about this man that just intrigued him and he liked it.

"My name's Jared, what's yours?" Jared pegged his accent immediately and he found it pretty interesting and likeable. Gerard being slender and tall didn't seem to shake that feeling of interest either. In fact, Jared quite liked how the other man looked. Jared himself had a baby face, and was always mistaken for being younger than he really was.

"Y'can call me Gerard." He smirked. "Tell me, Jared, d'you believe in magic?" Gerard asked, a lopsided smirk on his face. Calling voodoo magic wasn't inaccurate, it was a kind of dark magic, though saying so wasn't good when it came to luring people in. Gerard always picked the naive looking people so they weren't smart enough to realise a shady looking guy when they saw one. He already knew he'd hooked Jared, by the look on his face, Gerard knew he could probably get what he wanted from this. He decided he'd dazzle Jared a bit, bring him to his little room at the end of the alley and work a different kind of magic in there. One that would end up with money in Gerard's pocket. That was all it was about at the end of the day. Gerard needed money. Money that other people had. Plus the shadows liked to see a bit of mischief, that's why they stuck around. Gerard felt like he was on top of the world with them, stealing from people with incredible ease.

"Magic? What like card tricks and pulling a rabbit out of a hat? Its all just cleverly done tricks." Jared pushed his brown hair away from his eyes looking towards the guy. He wasn't street smart enough to put two and two together and realise this guy was a bit dodgy looking, especially considering he had found the guy in an alleyway. Gerard almost looked offended by Jared's suggestion of his magic being that of those the stupid, basic trickery that ordinary people did. Gerard was anything but ordinary, and he hated being compared to such people.

"No, no, I'm talkin' real magic. Watch closely, yeah?" He backed into the alley a little, reaching into his pocket and when he brought his hand out, there was a pile of purple powder in his hand. He allowed Jared to see it first before he blew it out of his hand and each particle of the powder began to form together to make a dozen little butterflies, fluttering up into the sky. That was one of the more showy tricks Gerard had, he typically used that one to wow people. What most people weren't aware of, were that those butterflies were poison, and would seriously injure whoever touched one. The shadows always liked Gerard causing mischief and destruction this way, attacking the harmless and the innocent. They were truly sick and twisted. "This ain't no rabbit outta the hat tricks, Jared." Gerard muttered lowly with a devilish smirk on his face. He'd always had such a confidence in how he presented himself, no matter how ratty or shady he looked. Though on the inside, it was all a ticking time bomb. He knew if he got one thing wrong, the shadows would not be happy and if he fucked up enough times, he was sure to land a place six feet under.

"Its impressive, I'll give you that." Jared looked at the butterflies in awe, smiling as they flew away. He'd started to reach out to touch one but the butterfly had just fluttered out of reach before he could. Jared had no idea the man stood in front of him planned on using his magical abilities to hurt people. He just thought that the butterflies looked pretty.  "I think you've convinced me." Jared couldn't see anything wrong with this situation, though that was because he had always been the naive little brother and his big brother and mother had pretty much put a bubble around him. That was why he'd moved to the city-to care for himself, be his own person. "What else can you do?"

"Ah, well, sweetheart, you'll just have to follow me and see, won't ya?" Gerard watched Jared for a moment, before slinking back into the alley, heading towards a door at the end of it. He didn't need to turn around to know that Jared was following him, he'd had him hooked right from the start. What Gerard planned to do was find out what Jared truly wanted, and to take his money and if the shadows wanted it, his soul too.

Gerard stopped by the purple door, glancing over his shoulder at Jared, who had a look of growing curiosity on his face, the flowers he'd given him earlier still in his hand. With a faint smirk, he burst open the door and small pink and purple lights illuminated the inside of the little room. There were shrunken heads hanging from the ceiling and a pot of green mixture frothing in the corner and in the middle of it all, there was a table with a seat either side.

"Come in, Jared.." Gerard spoke in an alluring tone and whispers echoed him from all sides with a soft chorus of 'Come in, Jared.' He slipped behind the chair which dragged back for him with the help of the shadow and he sat down on it as it drew up to the table again. Gerard leaned back, the dim light giving an even eerier aura, and he watched Jared linger in the doorway. Jared, with wide eyes, looked around and eventually his eyes settled on Gerard, clutching the flowers to his chest as he stepped over the threshold and into what Gerard liked to call 'the shadow realm'. His shadow disappeared from behind him and slid across the floor, slamming the door shut behind Jared and plunged them into semi-darkness. Jared flinched, looking down at the floor where Gerard's shadow circled his feet before rushing back.

"Woah, how did you make it do that?" Jared asked, eyes full of wonder as he took his seat at the table, setting down his flowers atop it.

"Magic, honey." Gerard produced a pack of cards from nowhere and shook them until they all fell out over the table, all face down.

"I thought you said you didn't do card tricks?" Jared asked, but he slowly closed his mouth at the sight of the look Gerard gave him. He never knew it was possible to witness a look that sent shivers down his spine and made his insides feel cold, and yet it happened. But before he could begin to second guess his decision to follow this strange man into a room at the end of an alley, Gerard spoke.

"This ain't any old card trick, Jared. See, I can tell ya your entire life story, right here, right now." Gerard leaned forward so the light caught his devilish grin perfectly. He arranged the cards in a line with a wave of his hand. Thick wisps of smoke curled around his skeletal fingers as he looked Jared dead in the eyes and lifted his hand to Jared's chin. Jared didn't fight the touch and instead locked eyes with Gerard, an unsettling feeling manifesting itself in his bones. The only sounds in the room was Jared's shallow breathing and the soft creaking and groaning of the room. Jared almost feared that it would all collapse on top of them both but seeing as Gerard was very relaxed, he decided not to worry and put his trust in Gerard. Which was a dire mistake, but Jared wasn't aware of that.

"Ah," Gerard was the first to break the silence and leaned back again, taking his fingers from Jared's chin and used them instead to flip over the first card which held an illustration of what looked like a baby and a slightly older boy. "Ya got a brother. Older, and protective." Gerard drawled shaking the card a little and a woman appeared. "And a mother, much like ya brother, I see." Gerard's eyes flickered to Jared for a moment to gauge his reaction. Jared sat there in awe, peering at the card and pushed his brown hair back so it wouldn't obscure the wondrous sight he was seeing.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's right." Jared spoke in a slightly hushed tone, his mouth ajar with a slight smile bringing the corners of his lips up. "Do more." He urged, shuffling forward in his seat. Gerard's tongue darted out to wet his lower lip, a habit of his as he smirked and continued, letting the cards and the voodoo take him over.

"Lemme see..." Gerard turned over the next card, which had a lone dollar and flies by it. "Didn't have much, did ya?" Gerard turned the card upside down and he image changed to a tattered teddy bear. "Had to make do with whatcha got." Gerard saw a flicker of emotion on Jared's face before it went back to that same childish look of wonder.

"But that's why you moved here, ain't it?" Gerard turned over another card to reveal a picture of a suitcase. "And your luck hasn't been the best has it?" Gerard swept his hands over the cards and all of them changed to images of Jared falling in puddles, being pick pocketed, the rain falling on him; all instances of Jared having bad luck.

"Lemme tell you, Jared-" Gerard blew softly over the cards. "Your luck can change." And with those words, the purple cards turned a shimmering golden colour. The pictures of bad luck changed into the very best of luck, and Jared watched in awe and wonder, eyes shining in the soft shimmer of the gold cards.

"How? How can you change my luck? Please, I want it!" Jared felt his excitement build and he longed for a good change in his life; he longed to be happy and successful. Jared picked up the nearest card to him, which had the image of him sitting in a pile of money. _Yeah_ , Jared thought, _that looks perfect._

"Oh all it takes is a little payment, sugar." Gerard leaned in more, almost as if he was going to leap at Jared over the table. He could see Jared hesitate for a moment at the idea of paying and Gerard exhaled slowly. He couldn't lose him now, he could tell  the shadows were hungry for him. "Oh come on, what's a little cash now if you're going to get so much later?" 

" _Come on Jared..._ " The shrunken heads whispered again, more of them joining in and lowering from the ceiling. The shadows seeped into the room to watch the exchange and the potion broiling in the corner lit up invitingly, capturing Jared's just for a moment or so before he looked back at Gerard. The green light spilling from the cauldron lit up Gerard's face as he stared intently at Jared with dark circles around his crazy eyes. Jared didn't see how he could refuse.

"I...O-Okay." Jared's hand faltered a few times as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "How much?" He asked, attempting to ignore the shrunken heads still whispering his name over and over again. Gerard leaned forward even more, standing from his seat, one hand on the table and keeping eye contact with Jared. He said nothing, but a slow smile curved his lips. His hand darted out and for a moment Jared thought he was going to take his whole wallet, but instead it was his wrist that Gerard grabbed. With a harsh yank, he pulled him to the corner of the room, giving Jared no explanation and Jared felt the cold from Gerard's hand seep into his bones and spread across his body like a sickness taking hold.

" _Jared. Jared. Jared._ " The shrunken heads whispered louder and louder until it wasn't a whisper anymore, just a piercing yell. " _Jared! Jared! Jared!_ "

Gerard relished the look of surprise and slight fear on Jared's face, almost wanting to laugh at it but he kept himself under control.

"You want good luck? I'll give it to ya." Gerard muttered, plunging his hand into the cauldron beside him. He kept eye contact with Jared, feeling a thrill from the adrenaline of the magic, and the shadows were cheering in his head. He was going to fucking ruin Jared, and he couldn't wait to see it. His hand searched in the cauldron for a moment before he pulled it out, green liquid slipping between his fingers and revealed a shiny golden chain. On the chain, it had a small clasp at the back, and a little black stone in the shape of a heart at the front of it. The stone was the very darkest of black, almost like it was a black hole for souls. And Gerard fucking loved that. Gerard's shadow did too, and since it was more impatient that Gerard, it took it from his hand. Jared was astounded by how it just floated in the air and couldn't understand how Gerard was doing that until he saw his shadow moving. Jared felt a sharp shock in his spine as the chain fell around his neck and Gerard's shadow returned to its owner in one swift turn.

"Just keep this on, and good things'll come your way." Gerard pulled Jared forward a little, taking advantage of his bewildered state. "Good luck, Jared." Gerard whispered, his warm breath hitting Jared's face. Jared couldn't force any words out of his mouth, and his eyes darted all around the room. He felt almost high, his head was spinning and it was like whatever magic was in the room toyed with him, messing up his senses. He was so out of it, he didn't realise what Gerard had done before it was too late. 

A scorching hot sensation burned itself into Jared's skin and engulfed him. He saw nothing but green and a hoarse scream left his lips, though it was masked by the boiling liquid and Jared suddenly realised he wasn't on his feet anymore. There was nothing this could be but the liquid in the cauldron. Jared screamed and yelled and thrashed and as the rational thoughts in his head caught up to him, he noticed there didn't seem to be an end to this cauldron, that there was no start nor end as far as Jared could see. His eyes shut and the muscles in his body seized up and Jared felt like he was being fried alive. If he could've cried there, he would have, simply from the sheer pain the liquid was casing him. Jared thought he was going to die; he'd never experienced such a level of intense agony as he had at that moment and then all of a sudden it just...stopped.

Jared's chest rose and fall deeply, and he opened his eyes to a sight that he was happy to see- his own ceiling. He didn't get up for a moment, just gathering his thoughts and allowed himself to recover from the trauma he'd just gone through. Before he had time to reassess his opinions on Gerard, he became very aware of something.

He didn't have his wallet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for reading and tell me if you enjoyed reading it or if you wanna see more or even if you have any criticisms (but please don't rip me to shreds aha).


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